The fight against juvenile crime is as important as the protection of young people, legal experts reiterated on Monday after two boys were punished for killing their classmate.

China has always upheld the principle of "education first, punishment second" in handling child-related offenses, but tolerance does not mean connivance, the experts said, calling for more walks of life to jointly help prevent juvenile crimes.

About eight months after a killing involving juveniles in Handan, Hebei province, shocked the nation, Handan Intermediate People's Court on Monday sentenced two teenagers, one to life in prison and the other to 12 years behind bars.

Another defendant, who participated in the killing but did not directly harm the victim, was not given a criminal punishment, but was required to receive education and rehabilitation for young offenders, the court announced.

On the afternoon of March 10, a boy surnamed Zhang deceived classmate Wang into going to a greenhouse after plotting to kill him with another boy surnamed Li, who also went to the greenhouse with another boy, Ma.

After their arrival, Zhang began attacking Wang with shovels, while Li was responsible for restraining Wang. In the midst of the attack, Ma left the crime scene and Zhang and Li continued beating Wang to death and buried his body. Then the three fled the scene on bikes.

Zhang later divided the money on Wang's mobile phone with Li, and asked Ma and Li to smash the phone and throw it away.

Upon realizing that Wang was missing, his family called the police. Ma confessed to the offense during the investigation and took police to the crime scene.

The killing sparked widespread public outrage and put the issue of juvenile crime in the national spotlight once again, as the offenders and the victim were all just 13 when the case happened.

The court said on Monday that Zhang and Li planned multiple times to kill Wang to get his money, and Zhang chose an abandoned vegetable greenhouse as the crime scene, where he took shovels ahead of time in order to bury the body.

"The behavior of Zhang and Li has constituted the crime of intentional homicide, with extremely serious circumstances and particularly cruel criminal means," the court said. "The two were between the ages of 12 and 14 while committing the crime, meaning they could be held criminally liable in line with the Criminal Law."

The court deemed Zhang as the main culprit because he not only proposed and prepared for the killing, but also committed the crime and asked others to join in.

"Li also played a significant role in the case, as he actively participated in the killing and carried it out with Zhang, and also shared the victim's money after the attack," it said.

"Considering that Ma didn't take part in the planning of the crime and didn't directly harm the victim, we didn't criminally punish him, but ordered him to be rehabilitated by the public security and educational departments."

One expert, a lawyer named Tong Lihua, noted that according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Chinese Criminal Law, criminals under the age of 18 should not be sentenced to death, with lenient punishment required.

He Ting, a law professor at Beijing Normal University, said, "Leniently penalizing juveniles with tolerance doesn't mean their offenses can be indulged."

Both experts noted that the ruling has shown China's strong determination to combat juvenile offenders, and it also serves as a deterrent to other minors, making them realize the importance of abiding by the law.

To effectively prevent juvenile crimes, especially those committed by very young people, the country's age of criminal liability was lowered to 12 in 2021 when the amended Criminal Law took effect.

Before that, the age of criminal liability was higher, with offenders ages 14 to 16 held criminally responsible if they committed serious and violent crimes, including intentional homicide, intentional injury, robbery or rape.

After the law was amended, offenders ages 12 to 14 face criminal punishment for intentional homicide, or intentional injury that leads to death or severely disables others, but it clarifies that the decision to prosecute must be approved by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

[email protected]